


One More Shot Of... Absolute Stroke-Inducing Terror

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Polyamory, Rollercoasters, Yami Yuugi | Atem has his own body
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 10:29:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19355179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Part of Atem's job at Kaiba Corp is to test new games and Kaibaland rides, and he's determined to do whatever it takes to be the best game tester he can be..... even if it means having a small heart attack and years of nightmares to come





	One More Shot Of... Absolute Stroke-Inducing Terror

**Author's Note:**

> For Prompt Monday- "Rollercoaster"

"You're sure that you want to do this?"

Atem rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at Seto with what could possibly be described as "skepticism"

"This is my job, isn't it? Professional guinea pig?"

"Well no, technically, you're a _game_ tester, what we're getting ready to test today is a _ride_ ," Seto corrected as he stepped into the elevator, Atem following right on his heel

"That's semantics isn't it?" Atem frowned as he leaned back against the elevator wall

"No, it's clarifying your position, but if you're really fine with this, then I'm happy to use you as my so-called 'professional guinea pig', and- speaking of- you know there's more to your job than just that, right?"

"I know, but in this case isn't that _exactly_ what I am?" Atem smirked back

Seto shook his head, although it was quite playfull, and stepped out of the elevator as soon as it "ding"ed in the proper location

Once more, Atem was quick to follow his boyfreind out of the elevator, an excited, albeit somewhat nervous jump entering his heart as he stared up at the enormous rollercoaster in front of him

The Ultimate Dragon Ride....

Atem had thought Kaiba Land's first Blue Eyes rollercoaster was something otherworldly, but _this_ thing could have only been created by a mad genius

... Wich was exactly why he believed Seto when he said that he had designed it all on his own without any assistance from anyone else

It made sense, honestly

He watched as the cars sped down the coaster in the distance and sighed longingly, the familiar, slightly queasy feeling he loved starting to come over him

He hoped the new ride was atleast half as thrilling as Ultimate Dragon

"This way," Seto instructed, catching Atem's attention once more as he wasted no more time in following his beloved through a curtain and towards a large metal door

Reaching into his pocket, Seto pulled out his park ID badge and scanned it, the red light over the scanner turning green as the door clicked open and a robotic voice spoke over the speakers

_"Access granted, welcome back Mr. Kaiba"_

Atem stared at it for a moment as he followed Seto in through the door, now officially part of the restricted area, and took a long, sweeping look at all of the areas that were under construction

This was far from the first time that he had been to the park, ofcourse, but it _was_ the first time he had been in the restricted section...

"Does my badge do that?" he asked curiously as he followed Seto through a small series of streets and passageways that were all facing some sort of construction, or at the very least, covered by tarps and sheets to hide what was beneath

"Mm? Yes, your's and Yugi's both do," Seto replied simply, coming to a second metal door and flashing his badge against the scanner

The same green light and acceptance message played through, and he stepped through the door with Atem following close behind

This area of the park was even more different, Atem observed

They had stepped directly into the tunnel that provided them access to the new ride Atem would be testing today

It was a rather plain, cobblestone tunnel, with fake torches lining the walls and a plain black and red car design

Actually, it was rather plain for a Kaiba Corp production, much to Atem's surprise

"What will you be doing when this is finished? Will you remove the restricted-access door?"

"Hm? No, I'll move the coaster, there's a spot in the back of the park behind Ultimate Dragon where this is going to be, it's being constructed as we speak,"

"How do you.... _move_ a rollercoaster...?"

"Actually it's not all that hard to assemble and disassemble them, particularly as this one will rely alot more on VR than practical effects, then I'll just use this area afterwards to start work on my next ride, I don't know if it'll be a coaster or not but it's going to be a ride,"

"I see," Atem mumbled quietly as he observed the tracks and the car resting on them

So that was why it was relatively plain, the bells and wistles wouldn't be put on until it was in it's permanent place

Made sense

"So how high will it go? Will the drop be as sudden and high as Ultimate?"

"No, this one isn't about that kind of thrills,"

"Oh...?"

"This is a horror coaster as I told you, and the majority of the excitement will come from the VR system,"

"Oh I see...."

Atem was conflicted about VR personally

On the one hand he certainly enjoyed the games themselves, and the effects were always top notch, as to be expected of Kaiba Corp- and anything that Seto put his hands on for that matter- but on the other hand, VR could be disorienting for him, he still wasn't used to it as a concept and he wasn't fond of how he felt after, like he was having a hard time gripping reality again, plus he just liked the old-fashioned, touchable, tangible games more

But just because he'd choose a solid, tangible game over VR, that didn't mean he wouldn't still be more than happy to test any game that his boyfeind wished

"It will have _some_ falls, don't worry, but if I tried this ride out on something as tall as Ultimate, I'd get sued in the first day it was out if I did that,"

Ah yes, one of the primary reasons that Seto insisted on spending so much time and effort on testing his games and rides- avoiding lawsuits

"Right right, will Yugi be here as well?" Atem asked hopefully as he looked around the otherwise empty tunnel

Usually Yugi didn't skip out on watching him test things, especially when the smaller duelist had a hand in actually working on the projects, and Atem had been hearing about this ride for eight months, there was no way Yugi would miss it right? Even if he _was_ caught up at the game shop, he'd make time, wouldn't he?

"He's supposed to be, he's just showing up a little later,"

With that Seto grabbed the walkie talkie off of his belt, wich he ad had picked up when he had first entered the small office he used wile at the park, speaking something or other into it that Atem didn't quite hear

Seconds later, the coaster roared to life

Lights- low as they may have been- turned on, low, hauntingly creepy music started to play, and fake smoke pumped out of the front of the car

Atem couldn't _wait_ to climb inside

"Not yet Gremlin," Seto frowned smoothly, holding an arm out in front of his boyfreind, evidently having noticed the way he was eyeing the coaster

"How are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine,"

"Yes? So no headaches? No chest pains? Shortness of breath? Quea-"

"Seto, I'm _fine_ ," Atem persisted with a bright grin, leaning up and kissing Seto's cheek

"You're cute when you worry, but really, everything is fine, ok?"

Yeah.... Seto himself didn't seem nearly as convinced about that, sighing quietly and rubbing Atem's face, gently dragging his thumb against the pharaoh's upper cheekbone a few times before reluctantly pulling away and nodding for Atem to climb into the coaster, much to his delight

"Alright, I have to explain how this works, so pay close attention, got it?"

Atem, nodded easily, making himself as comfortable as he could as Seto pulled the safety bars over his chest and then handed him the VR headset that was hanging in the front of the car

"This is where the images will come through, as well as some of the sounds, though some of them are programmed into the ride it's self, see the buttons on the front of the car?" he asked, pointing between where Atem was holding the headset and the actual front of the coaster's car, fingers sweeping along a small panel of buttons in front of him

There were just five of them, one giant red one in the center and two smaller ones on each side of it

"These will give you moderate control over the images you're seeing and the direction the ride takes, but I'm not going to tell you what does what just yet, it'll be much more fun if that's all a surprise,"

"Got it,"

"And finally, this is your panic button," he explained, reaching across his boyfreind to hand him a large button on a cord, clearly one that wasn't supposed to be in the final design and was only there for the prototype, with how easy it looked to detach

"Look at me Atem, I am being 100% serious when I tell you not to take it easy on this thing, understand? If you feel things are too much, _do NOT_ hesitate to press this button, it'll stop the ride immediately and turn off your VR system, then when you feel calm enough you can press it again for the ride to continue without the VR system coming into play making things worse, I cannot stress this enough: Use. The damn. BUTTON. if you need to, do you understand me?"

"Ok,"

"I'm serious,"

"Ok,"

"Don't fuck with me Atem, you'd better press that button if you feel like it's too intense,"

"Ok! What do you want me to do Seto? Spell it out for you? O.K."

Seto was unamused

"I know how you are," he replied simply, sighing as he he set down his breifcase and started fishing out the supplies he needed

The entire point of Atem testing this game- as Seto and Yugi had already personally tested it for mechanical malfunctions- was to monitor the horror levels and make sure it wasn't too scary, they needed to have a good idea of how badly this ride would scare people and if they would need to tone it down or not

After all, Seto really didn't want a lawsuit because someone died of fright on his ride...

So vital monitoring would be necessary

Luckily he had a mobile kit that was quite easy to transport

"Alright, you know the drill, shirt up and arm out," he said blandly as he started peeling the back off of the first heart-monitoring patch that he would be needing to stick onto Atem's chest

The pharaoh just sighed and slowly obeyed, rolling his eyes

"You know, this was cute and kinky at first, but now it's just boring,"

"Live with it Villanelle, I tossed myself into the afterlife for you once already, I'm not doing it again,"

Atem rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to laugh

They both knew that wasn't true

Seto loved Atem far too much to let him stay dead

 

~+~

 

"Alright, are you ready to go?"

Atem gave the thumb's up, wich Seto could see from the window of the control booth up above the tunnel

"Remember Atem, absolutely, without a doubt _use your panic button_ if you need to, don't try to bullshit your way through this, got it?"

This time the finger that Atem held up definitely wasn't his thumb

Seto just rolled his eyes and shook his head, preparing to turn the ride on when the door to the booth suddenly opened and Yugi stepped in

"Oh hey you're testing the ride, I haven't missed anything have I?"

"No, I haven't started it just yet, but Atem is strapped in and ready to go,"

".. You're using _Atem_ for this? I thought you said one of your employees volunteered for this,"

"He did- Atem volunteered,"

Honestly? Yugi really should have seen that one coming

"Do you really think this is such a good idea?" Yugi asked worriedly as he moved to stand next to Seto and peer over his boyfreind's shoulder

"He'll be fine, he has a panic button if things get too intense, and besides, it isn't like we could stop him even if we wanted to,"

"Yeah you have a point there..." Yugi sighed back

One thing he had learned the hard way was that when Atem was determined about something, there was no stopping him, despite common sense at times deeming that there _should_ be

"Ok then.... start the ride I suppose," Yugi agreed, watching anxiously as Seto nodded and pressed down on the button beneath his hand

The ride would start out slowly at first, the cars moving along at a snail's pace as the VR started up, wich Yugi and Seto were privy to thanks to the screen beneath the window

_"Hello Atem, I want to play a game"_

Jigsaw's face was on the screen, beginning the introduction of the ride, explaining that many horrors would await and that riders would need to "play the game to survive" via the buttons on the front of their cars

"Did you program it to say Atem's name specifically?" Yugi asked in surprise and confusion

"Not quite, you know how you have to sign a waver to go on this ride?"

"Yes...."

"I programmed it to say each individual name of those who sign the wavers, as the VR headsets are temporarily registered to those who sign, they can hold the personalized imprint of whoever signs the digital waver pertaining to the individual headsets, thus, each rider will have a personalized experience, even if only by name,"

Yugi stared at Seto, quiet and bordering on judgemental- but a proud judgemental, if that made any sense

"That's ... alot," he noted slowly

"Do the buttons actually do anything?"

"Oh, pft, no, not at all, but it adds to the experience if people believe they're somehow controlling their own outcome, if they're aware that they're literally just along for the ride and can't control anything, it causes something of a ripple in the suspension of disbeleif, but this way, they can feel more 'in control' of the situation... wich means that when they feel _out_ of control-"

"It advances their fear and anxiety responses making for a more realistic experience.... I must say Seto, well done," Yugi smirked, taking note of the clear pride that Seto was currently exhibiting

"Well I'm happy to serve," Seto teased playfully

Yugi snickered back, just as playfully, and nudged his boyfreind's shoulder

Overall the two of them were having quite a good time in the oversight booth, monitoring Atem's vitals to the best of their abilities wile also playing and teasing with eachother

It was just a shame that, down below, their other partner wasn't having nearly as much fun....

\--

Atem had to admit, he was kind of impressed by the sheer amount of license deals that Seto had managed to accumulate over the last year or so

The sheer amount of horror icons that were appearing on this ride was a feat in and of it's self

Atem hadn't been around long enough to be entirely familiar with many of them, but he recognized quite a few all the same

From Jigsaw to Pennywise, from Sadako to Ghostface, nameless face characters from The Purge and countless cameos from American Horror Story...

It truly was a horror fan's dream

And Atem's _nightmare_

It wasn't that Atem didn't like horror- quite the opposite actually, he was a big fan of it

Rather, he was just... easily spooked

Not being used to horror as a medium, he scared easily, especially when it came to jump-scares, something he had absolutely no prior experience with

To make matters worse, his body was virtually new, meaning that his fear responses were... heavier... than they may have otherwise been

Atem liked fear- atleast, he liked the adrenaline rush that came from it

He liked the reminder that he was alive

He liked being able to really FEEL everything, feel in touch with his body, feel ... well... _alive_

That was why he loved things like horror movies and rollercoasters, but admittedly, putting the two together just may have been a little too much for him

He felt sick to his stomach

He felt shaky and weak, his heart racing and his breathing far heavier and far quicker than usual, he felt like he was going to absolutely fall apart if he didn't get through this ride soon

The virtual reality technology that Seto had crafted truly was without comparison

Every little thing, every last drop of blood or raspy voice or jump of a movie monster felt so incredibly real, and being combined with the constant up-down-loopity-loop motions of the rollercoaster, always feeling like he was on the razor's edge, floating or falling or something in between, was just too much for him

He could barely stand it

He was barely holding it together

...

But he was not about to give in

He wasn't going to press that panic button

He'd rather _die_ first

And truthfully, if the way his heart jumped from that last time Sadako lunged for him was any indication, he very well might

 

~+~

 

"We need to stop the ride before he has a heart attack!"

"I can't, he's on the last peak, we'd have to get a cherry picker to get him down at this point, and frankly, I think that would just scare him worse,"

"Then tell him to use his panic button, you can talk to him through the headset, right?" Yugi urged

"I... technically could yes, but the VR sounds are so loud that I doubt he'd hear me,"

"Don't you have a mute?"

To his credit, atleast Seto had the dignity to look ashamed when he answered

"... No...."

"NO!? You... you programmed this thing to call people by name but not to have a MUTE option!?"

"It didn't seem like it would come in handy in the long run,"

For a moment, Yugi wondered how someone so smart could be so dumb

But he chose not to voice that question, atleast not for right now, there were bigger priorities at hand

... Like watching in distress as Atem's vitals continued to climb as the ride continued on

Yugi wasn't sure how he lived through watching his lover go through such torment, but by the time it was over, he was far more concerned that _he_ was going to die of fright than he was about his boyfreind

 

~+~

 

"Why? WHY did you not use your panic button!?"

In all fairness, Atem knew damn good and well that this was the reaction he was bound to incur by the time the ride was over and he shakily stumbled off of the coaster

He had two very angry boyfreinds waiting on him and he couldn't say he blamed them

"You said to use it if I could no longer handle things- I handled them,"

Seto made a face and a gesture similar to the Persian Cat Room Guardian meme and honestly? Yugi agreed

"You did not 'handle' them, your vitals went nuclear!"

"But I'm still alive and did not panic,"

Ah, Seto's PCRG Meme gesturing was getting more intense

Yugi still agreed

"Atem, honey, that ride is clearly too much, we're going to tone it down bu-"

"No!" Atem pouted immediately

"I ... I don't want you to damage your beautifull work!"

"But it's too much-"

"I didn't panic!"

"But your vitals showed otherwise, the entire reason we have these tests is to see if we need to tone something down, or up the ante, or make adjustments of any kind so that the ride is at it's most enjoyable, and currently it seems like it's more stressfull than anything, wich isn't how we want our rides to be,"

True, he was starting to use the words "we" and "our" a bit too liberally for a project that was primarily Seto's and that he had only contributed minor resources to, but that was beside the point by now

"I just don't want you to damage your beautifull art because of my being a.. a coward...."

Yugi frowned worriedly and sympathetically, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Atem tightly

"Oh Atem.... is that what you think? That you're a coward because you don't handle jumpscares well? 'Tem that has nothing to do with anything, you're the bravest person I know, not liking jumpscares doesn't impact that at all,"

"But I do like them," Atem protested

"Because you're an adrenaline junkie, not because you can handle them," Seto pointed out, causing Yugi to sigh heavily and frown at the taller man

"Ok, _that_? Not helping,"

Then he turned back to Atem, smiling as gently as he could

"Atem, it doesn't matter how you react to things like horror or jumpscares or .... _anything_.... we both know how courageous you are, and we will never stop believing that, ok? But you need to tell us what your limits are, _please_ , for your own health, and for our peace of mind, you understand, right Mou Hitori?"

"Ofcourse aibou," Atem smiled softly, leaning forward to kiss Yugi's head

"Now let me go on the ride again, now that I know what to expect, I can handle it better!"

Seto and Yugi only gave a mutual groan of exhaustion


End file.
